October 1, 2004
Welcome:Bienvenidos
This
exhibit is an "art spark" generated by a community of artists
living around the world. Every week, we meet at this virtual studio/gallery
to share work and
the most important thing on our minds.
Artists are invited to join Virtual:Comunidad.
Some material may not be suitable for children
©2004 by artists named
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PP
New York City
Ha Ha Bush
Debate #1 was the first ray of hope. SO much is at stake. Just found out my father is going to vote for Bush after being a democrat all his life. I'm gonna have to apply All my inner resources to detach from that one.
Peggy Braun
Lennox, Massachussetts
Yadda-yadda-yadda
I have been thinking about thinking--how boring and repetitious it is and almost always based on worry in some form. When I can quiet my mind, something else happens: a space where real things actually appear, or sometimes I move into a new circuit where thoughts are alive and fresh. However, this pix is about the latter state.
Wendy Newton
Washington Heights, New York City
Illegal Snapshot
Wondering what are the psycho-spiritual ramifications of prolonged exposure to the guts of the island of Manhattan. When I was growing up on the Upper West Side I went to school in Brooklyn Heights. When I graduated from college I lived in Park Slope and worked for a production company on West 72nd Street. Now I live in Washington Heights and work in Midtown. I have logged more hours under Manhattan than probably anywhere else in the world. I think we adapt splendidly. I've written some of my best poetry on the A train and almost all of my epiphanies have come to me on the IRT.
Tatiana Ivanovna
New York City
corporate life
thinking about how surreal it is to work in the corporate world.
i will put on a happy face, 'cause i can't be a bag lady, i've got too much stuff
There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.
Steven Wright
You can't have everything. Where would you put it?
Steven Wright
Renee Watabe
Verona, New Jersey
untiltled
Tonight after dinner, I did a quick little sketch of Grandma.
Grandmas have been on my mind all day. I found the website of an artist
named Damali Ayo (http://damaliayo.com)
who addresses racism with her performance and visual artwork.
She has a piece which she is chronicling in various cities where she panhandles
reparation money from white passerbys and distributes it to black passerbys.
She calls it her “Do It Yourself Reparation for Slavery Project”,
or something like that. (see Living Flag project)
It got me to thinking of a conversation I had with Tim nearly two years
ago.
He was talking about how he wondered if the old black grandma who lived
up the block from him had resentment towards white men. If so, he thought
that he would like to permit her to put him over her knee and spank him,
as a symbolic and healing gesture of "making things right."
Call it Grandma Justice. Maybe it is a little nutsy. Silly, even.I personally
found it moving. Symbols and rituals have a lot of power.
So all day today I was imagining a line of comfy easy chairs positioned
on the sidewalk in the Wall Street district of Manhattan. Seated in each
chair was an old black grandma in a flowered dress, maybe with an apron
on. Some with reading glasses perched atop the bridges of their noses.
Next to them were planted several signs that said "Spankings Administered
Here" and " Line Forms to the Left." "Apologizes Accepted,
Help Heal Racism Today."
I saw long lines of white affluent business men and women in their corporate
suits , all waiting for their chance to be free, even for a moment. Free
of hidden guilt and shame of something they did not even start, but something
they are invested in. If only it were that simple. Racism runs so deep,
and is so subtly hidden.
When I told Tim about my idea, he said that perhaps I should comment on
the Chinese American experience, true, I am not black. But I still like
the idea.
Anthony Gonzalez
Washington Heights, New York City
Descent
My imagination naturally gravitates towards these types of vaguely malevolent creatures. I imagine them whispering rude things.
In today's New York Times OP-ED page, Paul Krugman, in his column refers to "...a provision, inserted by Congressional Republicans in the intelligence reform bill, to legalize 'extraordinary rendition' - a euphemism for sending terrorism suspects to countries that use torture for interrogation." The Editorials/ Letters page weighs in on this issue with the comment that "We are talking about people who have not been tried or convicted of anything. The burden of proof would be shifted unfairly to the person facing deportation to offer 'clear and convincing evidence' that torture would result."
"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."
-Attributed to Benjamin Franklin
Peter Ferko
Washington Heights, New York City
'At First Glance' series: Ollie's Wall
The most important thing on my mind right now is stopping: Relax my feet, my legs, my hips, my abdomen; feel my back held up by the floor and let go; feel my chest relax; my fingers, hands, and arms relax; feel my shoulders melt ... feel my scalp relax, my face relax. Nothing more to do ... now let my mind relax, just letting my thoughts drift by like leaves on a stream ... and just be.
Tim Folzenlogen
Washington Heights, New York City
summit
I’m on sabbatical from this project for the time being.
I’m too busy with other projects right now, and I feel like I’ve said so much here already. I don’t know what else to say without repeating myself. All of the broad strokes have been covered.
I’m sure I will be back, but I don’t know when.
Right now, my heart is telling me to be quiet. It’s time to wait, to listen.
Should you be interested, I’d like to invite you to read my "Proposals for Cincinnati" in the Projects folder of my website. It’s a thing of great beauty.
end of exhibit